Archipelago

Setup Guide

Kingdom Hearts III

A guide to setting up Kingdom Hearts III for Archipelago.

GuideMultiworld Setup Guide
LanguageEnglish
AuthorsCodex, Aesais

Guide

Rendered from source markdown.

Kingdom Hearts III Archipelago Setup Guide

This guide covers the current KH3 AP Alpha setup flow for PC/Steam KH3.

KH3 AP is currently an Alpha release. Start each seed from a fresh KH3 save, keep only the current seed's KH3 AP .pak in ~mods, and use Patch Game after installing a new APWorld.

Required Files

You need:

  • Archipelago 0.6.6 or newer.
  • The Kingdom Hearts III Alpha APWorld: download `kh3.apworld`.
  • Either the direct KH3 player .pak from an ap.aesais.net room, or the KH3 player .apkh3 file from a standard Archipelago room.
  • For local .pak generation from a .apkh3 file or AP_*.zip: the .NET 8 (x64) SDK, unless your host room already provides the KH3 player .pak. Download the .NET 8 SDK from Microsoft (x64).
  • The Garden of Assemblage mod .pak. The KH3 client downloads the supported GoA pak when you use Patch Game, but you can also install it manually: download GoA release 1.3.5.

The kh3.apworld contains the KH3 world, KH3 client, KH3 pak generator, and the bundled KH3 AP runtime files. Those runtime files include the KH3-specific UE4SS loader and KH3 AP probe used for live check reporting and item delivery.

Install The APWorld

  1. Open the Archipelago Launcher.
  2. Click Install APWorld.
  3. Select the downloaded kh3.apworld.
  4. Restart the Archipelago Launcher.

After restarting, the launcher should show KH3 Client and KH3 Pak Generator. If those entries do not appear, confirm that kh3.apworld was installed into Archipelago's custom_worlds folder and restart the launcher again.

Install The Mods

  1. Open your KH3 install directory.
  2. Go to KINGDOM HEARTS III/Content/Paks/~mods.
  3. Put the Garden of Assemblage .pak in ~mods, or let Patch Game download it for you.
  4. Put your generated KH3 AP player .pak in ~mods.
  5. Remove old KH3 AP seed paks from ~mods before starting a different room or regenerated seed.

Close and restart KH3 after changing .pak files. KH3 can keep old mod data in memory while the game is running.

The KH3 client's KH3 Config tab has a folder icon on the Mods Dir row that creates this folder if needed, then opens it once the KH3 directory is configured.

Patch The Game

  1. Launch the Archipelago Kingdom Hearts III client.
  2. Open the KH3 Config tab.
  3. Select your KH3 install directory if it was not detected automatically.
  4. Confirm the Save Dir points at the KH3 save folder. The auto-detected path is correct for most Steam installs.
  5. Choose the save cleanup mode:
    • Backup archives gameplay saves before cleanup.
    • Delete removes gameplay saves during cleanup.
  6. Click Patch Game.

This downloads the supported GoA pak if needed, installs the bundled KH3 AP runtime into the KH3 Binaries/Win64 folder, and configures the KH3 AP probe. The client rewrites the probe config after connecting so runtime events are written to the correct bridge directory for your current AP room.

Close and restart KH3 after patching. The game only loads the UE4SS runtime and KH3 AP probe when KH3 starts.

The KH3 Dir field should point at the top-level KINGDOM HEARTS III game folder. Selecting Binaries/Win64 is also accepted; the client will normalize the path.

The KH3 Config tab also shows UE4SS, UE4SS Compatibility, and Probe DLL status. After patching, Probe DLL should report Installed in root Mods.

Start A Seed

  1. Generate or join an Archipelago room that includes Kingdom Hearts III.
A room from ap.aesais.net
  1. Download your KH3 player .pak directly from the room page.
  2. Make sure GoA is installed and put the downloaded KH3 AP .pak into ~mods. Patch Game can install GoA for you.
  3. Start the KH3 client and connect to the AP server with your slot name.
  4. Open the KH3 Bridge tab and confirm Connection, Installed Pak, and Save Seed match the room you are joining.
  5. Launch KH3 from Steam or with the Launch KH3 button in the client.
  6. Start a fresh KH3 save for the seed.
Standard Archipelago
  1. Receive your KH3 .apkh3 file from the Archipelago room page.
  2. Open the Launcher KH3 Pak Generator tool.
  3. Select the downloaded .apkh3 file. The generated .pak is written to a kh3-player-paks folder beside the .apkh3 file.
  4. Make sure GoA is installed and put the generated KH3 AP .pak into ~mods. Patch Game can install GoA for you.
  5. Start the KH3 client and connect to the AP server with your slot name.
  6. Open the KH3 Bridge tab and confirm Connection, Installed Pak, and Save Seed match the room you are joining.
  7. Launch KH3 from Steam or with the Launch KH3 button in the client.
  8. Start a fresh KH3 save for the seed.

For a clean start, use the trash icon on the Save Dir row before starting a new seed. This archives or deletes gameplay save files after a second confirmation click while keeping settings-style files in place. Close KH3 first so save files are not locked. This is recommended when switching rooms or regenerated seeds.

If Auto remove saves on new seed is enabled, the client can perform that cleanup automatically when it detects saves from a different seed and KH3 is not running.

Playing

If you load an older KH3 save from before an AP item was received, the KH3 client replays received AP items so the in-game state can catch back up. Normal title-screen loads, manual saves, autosaves, and death-screen continues are supported by the replay system.

The KH3 Bridge tab shows the live runtime diagnostics while playing, including current save slot, slot replay indices, pending/applied items, blocking UI state, safe runtime context, recent KH3 loot, and recent AP item grants.

UE4SS Compatibility

KH3 AP ships a bundled KH3-specific UE4SS runtime. The Patch Game button treats that runtime as the supported setup for AP play.

UE4SS runtime install screen

If another UE4SS install is already present, the client preserves the existing Mods folder and merges Mods/mods.txt, but it may replace UE4SS loader/proxy files such as UE4SS.dll, dwmapi.dll, xinput1_3.dll, and UE4SS-settings.ini. Replaced files are backed up beside the original file with an .apbak-<timestamp> suffix.

Lua-only UE4SS mods are the most likely to coexist with KH3 AP. Other C++ UE4SS mods are higher risk because they may have been built against a different UE4SS runtime or ABI.

Troubleshooting

  • If the game gives different chest rewards than the KH3 client logs, remove old AP paks from ~mods, download the current room's KH3 .pak, and restart KH3.
  • If checks are not appearing in the client, confirm the KH3 client is connected before loading into KH3 and that Patch Game has been run from the KH3 Config tab. Probe DLL should list as Installed in root Mods.
  • If switching to a new room or regenerated seed, clear KH3 saves and install only the new generated KH3 AP .pak. The Save Seed row on the KH3 Bridge tab should match the installed room.
  • If the client blocks connection because existing saves belong to a different seed, close KH3 and use the Save Dir trash icon or enable Auto remove saves on new seed.
  • If KH3 Client does not appear in the launcher, reinstall kh3.apworld and restart Archipelago.